


Tsundoku

by LotusFlair



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Harrison Cambell - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 01:22:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20827028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LotusFlair/pseuds/LotusFlair
Summary: There's an entire series of Harrison Cambell's books that Zolf refuses to read until Sasha returns.





	Tsundoku

There's a small stack of books in the corner of Zolf's tiny room that have never been read. He's had them for almost a year, but not one of the four books in this short-lived quadrilogy has been thumbed through or seriously examined under his critical literary eye. He goes to great pains to hide his other Harrison Cambell books away from the prying eyes of men like Wilde who'd look down on his pedestrian tastes, but even a guarded yet well-meaning prick like Wilde could tell there was something different about these particular books and Zolf's persistence in carting them around like precious tomes. He asked about them once, commenting on their placement in the starkly decorated room. Zolf merely frowned and made sure Wilde understood that the topic was off limits. That didn't stop Wilde, obviously, but there was an understanding between them that the books would remain his secret to tell when he was ready.

It happens a few nights after Hamid and Azu are finally released from quarantine. Some somberly celebratory sake is handed out and the dwarf drinks his weight in rice wine. He staggers back to his room only to find Wilde looking at the top book of the stack. Zolf knows he should be angry. He should yell and threaten the taller man to mind his own business and leave him be, but he's too drunk and too sad to muster that kind of fire. Instead, he slides the door all the way open and gives Wilde a defeated look.

"I suppose now's as good a time as any," he sighs.

"You don't have to," Wilde says. He's been working on the warmth thing Zolf had coached him on earlier. He almost believes the man actually cares enough to let it go. Zolf shakes his head, dismissing the gifted out with a wave of his flappy drunken hand.

"Those came out not too long after the ones about Bertie did," he began. Moving into the room, he carefully walked in as straight of a line as possible to the bed. Finding purchase on the edge, he let the room stop spinning before he continued. "It's really amazing how fast he can turn those out and still make them entertaining and intriguing and--"

"Yes, yes, he's an idiot savant of the written word," Wilde said with a heavy roll of his eyes.

"Jealous?" Zolf needled.

"Of Cambell's productive turnaround or your hero worship of him?" Wilde asked defensively.

Zolf gave him a placating smile. "No need for that. I've read your works too."

"Really?"

"Of course. I needed something to put me to sleep while I was at sea."

Wilde shoved him over as he sat next to the laughing dwarf with a great huff. When the giggling finally subsided, he swore there was some pink in Wilde's cheeks. The lighthearted feeling disappeared quickly when he turned his eyes back to the book in Wilde's hands.

"They're about a young woman who escapes on an airship and has daring, swashbuckling adventures," Zolf explained. "She's wily, fearless, and has a proclivity for knives."

"Sounds familiar," Oscar said knowingly.

"He named her Misha Brackett," Zolf said, shaking his head. "It's not his most imaginative name change and I know Cambell's not for everyone, but even I couldn't get past the first page. They'd all...they'd been reported missing. Then we just assumed they were dead. I couldn't bring myself to read them. I didn't - I didn't want to be reminded of her."

"Then why keep them?" Wilde asked genuinely.

"Because I hoped they'd come back," Zolf said. "There were no bodies to bury. Just a story of how they vanished. I thought...I thought I'd hold on to them for her...so she could read them when she got back. So she could see the kind of impact she has on people."

He broke a little. There was no denying the influence of the sake, but Zolf was a dwarf who didn't let himself feel easily. He'd been working on it since he'd left his friends behind in Prague, but progress was slow when it came to dealing with his grief and anger in a healthy way. He felt a hand on his back. Wilde wasn't looking at him, but he was offering what comfort he thought Zolf would accept. Even after all their time working together Wilde could still surprise him.

"Well, I'm sure she'll appreciate it," Wilde said.

Zolf nodded. "Yeah. Or she'll scamper off to a rooftop somewhere and avoid conversation entirely."

"Yes, that's much more likely," Wilde agreed. There was a snort of laughter shared between them, then silence. In that time, Wilde didn't remove his hand from Zolf's back and Zolf made no effort to move away. It was comfortably awkward and, for the moment, it was exactly what they needed.

Wilde was the one to end it. Placing the book back at the top of the stack, he gave Zolf's shoulder an encouraging squeeze before leaving the room.

"Goodnight, Zolf. Get some rest."

"Yeah. You too."

Zolf crawled his way under the blanket, never bothering to remove his clothes. In his dreams he was on a grand sailing vessel, the water splashing his face as the ship breached the rolling waves. When he looked to the sky, though, he saw an airship following his path as it gave chase through the clouds. Hanging from the rigging, sporting a mischievous smile along with a dozen daggers, was Sasha. The wind blew her hair about and she reveled in the momentary bliss of flight as she jumped from the mast to the deck. She waved to him and he waved back as their respective ships raced towards the horizon.

It was the best night's sleep he'd had in ages.

**Author's Note:**

> Tsundoku - It means buying books and letting them pile up unread. The word dates back to the very beginning of modern Japan, the Meiji era (1868-1912) and has its origins in a pun.


End file.
